Dreams of Nightmares
by Raine Leonhart
Summary: She braces herself for a new day of waiting - for her dreams of nightmares to pass by.
1. Nightmares

Just here to say hello. Hello! How are you? Formalities: done. I've had a number of ideas involving Rita and Raven after Baction and they drive me insane because they ALL follow the same kind of skeleton. So, I thought I'd finally get to writing a version that's... well, it's not really _dark_, but kind of a dark _feeling_... you know? I mean I tried to play out a fluffy fluff fluffmuffins version in my head and it was just... ugh. I'm horrible with fluffmuffins because they get so cheesy they're like _blue cheese_, and I don't like blue cheese... especially out of character blue cheese, because I don't think I can write fluff without characters being _slightly_ out of character.

Because my view on Rita is maybe always going to be that she does **_not_** mull over boys like the whole "okay here's the deal. I'm in love with _ and he doesn't know about it, so I'm going to imagine little girly things in my head and be all sad and depressed because Judith is bouncy and Estelle is bubbly and I'm just a mean crabby-" NO. Just... No. She may be a teen but she's logical and not (_too_) cliche and blah blah blah.

I'm sorry for the rant. On with the short short chapter.

(I can't write long things. They're hard.)

x

There are times when Rita finds herself waking up in the middle of the night drenched in cold sweat. Sometimes she wakes up with tears streaming down her cheeks - sometimes with the feeling of instant relief when she opens her eyes and the tension in her jaw eases. But every time, she remembers all the little details of her vivid dreams. The clash of sword against sword, the heat of engulfing flames, each drip of sweat that rolls down her cheek, crimson blood flowing down from his chest, her neck, their faces, and the dull eyes so_ lifeless, _so_ unresponsive, _they're never going to open again and_ oh god what have I done, why did this have to happen-_

Sometimes she wakes up without remembering whether she had a dream of sunny days and clear skies or a dream of nightmares and bloodshed, but all the same she's just glad to be relieved of the tears and the pain and the neverending regret.

Even as she sits staring at the campfire with bags under her eyes and legs to her chest, she can't help but glance at each sleeping figure nearby. There is one that her eyes roam over longer, and sometimes she watches so long she forgets that she's awake. Shadows fall over her eyes that stare at nothing, bringing her back to the world she tries so hard to escape from, and she's struggling and screaming and scrabbling at those long, dark arms pulling her down, down, _down_, she's _suffocating_-

-until she blinks and realizes that the fire has long since died and the horizon is already beginning to fill with oranges and yellows, peaches and pinks. Her fists unclench and her jaw unwinds once again. She stands to clear her head, putting down wood on the ashen remnants with a _plunk_. Palms outstretched, fire re-lit, Rita braces herself for a new day of waiting; waiting for her dreams of nightmares to pass by.

All the while unaware of the eyes that watch her in the dark.


	2. Watching

Raven has always been curious from the beginning, and with Rita's recent behaviour, this is nothing new.

He's never been an obvious observer (unless he's pretending to be a clueless fool) for all the right reasons - a habit picked up from a dead man. He's quiet and careful, watching her through his peripheral vision. And the fact that she doesn't notice scares him because Rita Mordio is one of the most _brilliant_ observers in the world and would normally feel eyes on her within three seconds flat. Unless, of course, she works on some kind of formula or experiment, or a whatsamahoozit or a whatamajigger. But when he notices her staring at _him_ and he looks at her, he doesn't see Rita Mordio, genius mage, strong-willed and haughty and passionate about what she does. He doesn't see skepticism in her eyes when he looks _directly at her _staring at him. No.

He sees Rita Mordio, frightened young woman, bags under dull eyes and weariness in her face. He sees the bruises on her arms when she rolls up her sleeves - bruises from battles that she wouldn't have even been _close_ to getting if she were paying attention. Some are even his fault, from when he grabs her arm and pulls her away from a decapitating swipe.

Some nights when he can't sleep (but he pretends he is because he likes to listen to the sound of a crackling fire at night), he can feel eyes watching him. Rita is on watch duty once again, staring into the fire and always glancing over at him an everyone else. Sometimes it's someone else's turn to be on watch. Raven pretends to sleep because he's curious, waiting for the eyes that are bound to watch him. He hears Rita, who is still up and awake, offer to take over for the night.

And once again, Rita is on watch duty.

And when it's his turn for watch duty, he waits for everyone except Rita to go to sleep; waits for Rita to offer him a night's rest and let her take watch. And he always, always refuses. _Young women need their beauty sleep,_ he chides, because Rita has long since been a young girl. She's seen too much, been through too much to be considered one now.

Finally when she falls asleep he watches her openly. That's always how it's been: pretend to ogle Judith in the day and be a fool in everyone's eyes. Come night time he watches Rita and _only_ Rita. The shame he feels when he lets his imagination run wild and desperately takes a quick, freezing dip in a nearby lake...

Or when there is no body of water nearby and he walks toward a tree many steps away...

But he has nothing to be ashamed of these recent moments watching her sleep - all he feels is worry and pain when he sees the tears form and fall, sweat gleam in the fire's light, the tossing and turning and the gritted teeth. And yet all he can do is _nothing_ because he knows that if he wakes her up she will scream. She will scream, or she will begin to cast with the potential of creating a deep, deep crater full of their ashes - an event that could have happened some nights ago if not for her coming to her senses and him directing her arms away from the group and towards the ocean.

It's a rare occasion that Raven doesn't know what to do, so for now he lets his curiosity get the better of him - and hopes the cat doesn't die.

_x x x  
><em>

Thanks for: reading, reviews, favouriting, alerting, and not mentioning how dirty I feel about writing about Raven's pedophi-ahem. Man-weakness.

Just wanted to update before I leave for a couple days on a band trip on Thursday; the chapter was almost done yesterday and I couldn't bear to leave it just sitting in the document manager where no one would read it.


	3. Fear

All Rita wants is is to be left alone; she's tired of the worried looks and the concerned questions that seem to never end.

_Are you okay, Rita? Maybe you should get some sleep, Rita. You don't look so good, Rita. Are you sure you're fine, Rita? Rita, do you want to sit down?  
><em>

It's annoying and it's frustrating and it just makes her want to pull out the hairs on her head, set fire to their feet, and watch them run so she can get away from the nagging.

_I'm fine. Shut up. You're pissing me off. Stop asking. You're giving me a headache._

She lies, using her well-known temper to express to the others how she's perfectly fine and dandy. Eventually, the questions die down and the crinkle on her brow smooths out as she gives out a weary sigh. She's too tired to actually _be_ angry, so she settles for an act and watches as everyone falls for it. Rita scans the crowd, wondering why there's still that nagging feeling of worried eyes and lingering questions. There's Judith, Estelle, Yuri, Repede, Karol...

Rita snaps her head back to glare at Raven (who, she realizes, was the only one who kept quiet about her weary eyes and slouched figure) and falters in her step when she sees a strange look in his eyes. He gives her a small worried smile before he faces the Dragon Rider and becomes a fool.

Scoffing, the brunette turns and marches forward, gritting her teeth and hating how there's a _pang_ where her heart is.

How could a fool such as _Raven_ turn out to be someone like... like-

_-Schwann Oltorain?  
><em>

Rita shudders as the memories of death hang before her eyes. _A captain of the Imperial Knights_, she tells herself, repressing the sudden surge of images from her nightmares. _Someone like Flynn who is a good leader and will risk his life for-_

And it's already too late for the young girl as both _Raven of Altosk_ and _Schwann Oltorain, Captain of the Imperial Knights_ stand before her. Eyes closed, palms outstretched, they embrace the world as stone walls begin to crumble_._ Behind them, she sees the shadows of Yuri and the captain sparring away - _cut, parry, jab, lunge, parry, feint_ - and watches the blastia of Schwann flicker until the light dissipates.

Rita sees _herself_ at her left, her own arms up and casting, eyes filled with cold hatred and disgust. Raven's blastia begins to flicker, only it grows brighter and brighter until Rita realizes that she is casting to _destroy_ what keeps him alive. Before she can shout (_her throat is locked - desperation begins to creep up on her as she can't breathe_), and before she can even move to stop the spell (_her arms won't move, her legs won't move, her mind is racing and she can't do anything-_)_,_ his blastia shatters into tiny fragments, glimmering in the light and twinkling against each other like wind chimes on a breezy day.

And suddenly she's running towards them, towards him, catching him as he falls and holds him in her arms. She doesn't care whether he's _Raven_ or _Schwann_ because damnit _they're_ _the same person_. His eyes begin to dim as he gives her a soft, sad but content smile, bringing up a bloody hand to wipe away the tears on her face before his eyes gently close and his hand starts to fall.

Rita sets him down and grasps his hand in both of hers; she brings her head down and sobs into his chest.

_Rita._

Because her greatest fear -

_Rita._

- is not of her death -

_Rita..._

- by anyone and anything -

"Rita!"

- but the death of Raven of Brave Vesperia._  
><em>


	4. Retrospect

Raven wonders if Rita eats enough during their meals.

Glancing at the unconscious figure not too far from his spot at the fire, Raven slowly stirs cream stew in a decently sized pot. (That bag of Karol's sure is something, he chuckles to himself.) It's not one of his favourites, but it's not bad either.

And it's good for both physical health too, he muses. Something good to help Rita regain her strength - and gain a little weight, too. He recalls her unexpected lightness when he lifted her up and into his arms. He was expecting the weight of a skinny teenage girl, not a cat.

(And speaking of cats, that outfit of hers...)

Watching bubbles form and pop, Raven mulls over all possibilities of Rita being sick. She's perfectly fine in general - no sniffles, no coughs, no sneezing, internal bleeding, wheezy breaths, dizziness, nausea - none. Nothing except for fatigue and baggy eyes and lack of sleep and nightmares. Nightmares, he believes, that Rita shouldn't even have.

Sitting low on his haunches and looking much like a lost dog, Raven whines to himself in his own head.

It has something to do with him, that much he knows. He hasn't survived this long without realizing that he's being watched in some way or another - but what could it be? The brunette certainly was not having nightmares about being in love with the old man, because if they were, they would most definitely be _damn_ scary for her to lose sleep over this. (Here he winces at the thought of Rita being afraid of a relationship between them because... well...)

_Besides. He's an old man._

What could it be?

Raven pouts and scratches his chest where metal meets skin. She _had_ been avoiding him lately, and there was always a distant, guarded feeling whenever she would look at him and speak to him. He stiffens as his thoughts come to a halt.

_Maybe she hates him?_

But that wouldn't necessarily bring nightmares, right? In fact, if she hates him and is having dreams about killing him, she should be happy and full of energy, not tired and weak.

_Well then, maybe she's scared of him?_

If anything, Raven just sinks further down with a depressed sigh. That would explain her nightmares, the avoiding, and the distance. After all, what he did to Estelle and in Baction were indeed dick moves.

_Major_ dick moves.

Raven laughs on the inside at his sad attempt to lessen the regret building up in his chest and briefly wonders what could have happened if Yuri and the others had _not_-

The archer nearly jumps with a start as his stew begins to bubble over and Estelle rushes over to help him. He scratches his chin, embarrassed to have been caught daydreaming while cooking and asks her to gather the others and leave things to him. Dinner is ready, despite the fact that Raven knows that there will maybe, probably,_ most likely_ be a thin layer of black sticky _goo_ stuck to the bottom of the pot. He mentally groans and, as everyone starts rummaging through Karol's bag for bowls (Karol cries out defiantly at their invasion of his private possessions and proceeds to pull out a stack of bowls and a pile of spoons from who-knows-where in that monstrosity called a bag), declares that they'd better leave enough for their dear sleeping beauty when she wakes up.

Dinner passes by as a blur (Raven vaguely remembers making a face at the charred mess in the pot after being forced to clean it - it was his fault, after all) and night falls quickly. He offers to take up watch duty that night and the others are simply too tired to object - too worried about Rita to consider how he's doing all their chores and tasks.

Soon enough, the night sky arrives, bringing with it clusters of little, twinkling stars. With everyone sound asleep, Raven sits by Rita's side, sparing a glance at the brightest star of them all and vaguely recalls a story the young, pink-haired princess once told children under the tree of Halure. Something about a cowardly man getting courage after praying to the star and thus saving a whole freaking town.

Hah. _Yeah right._

Rita turns in her sleep and Raven gently brushes the hair from her face. Suddenly, he feels like a man.

(He mentally slaps his palm to his face. He does not _suddenly feel like a man_; Raven the Great _is_ a man.)

But at the same time, he feels like a monster. She suffers because of _him_. _He_ is the reason why the young mage is so tired and weary. It's _his_ fault that Rita's eyes are full of death, death, death and _fear_ when he looks at her.

Raven grimaces with disgust; here he is, sitting like nothing is wrong next to who he believes happens to fear him.

Looking up at the bright star once more, his chest aches and he feels just a little bit of courage seeping into him. It's a feeling, he briefly pauses in thought, much like the gentle tipping of a sake dish into the mouth. It's gentle and it's warm, but at the same time there's a kind of burning _fire_ to it, and suddenly Raven feels like he's just a little braver - so much less a coward, so much more a protector - and he resolves to the night sky and to himself and to _Rita_.

And as if to demand his resolve, the sleeping body next to him gives out the slightest of groans. Beads of sweat have already begun to form on her forehead; she clenches her jaw and begins to shift over one way - then the next - then again.

Raven's hands clench and release.

Rita Mordio's dreams of nightmares need to end._ Now._

_"Rita, I need you to wake up."_

Her eyes flutter open.

_x x x_

Cream stew: 40% HP, I think it was?

If you haven't been able to tell already, I haven't played ToV in quite a long while, hence the lack of any kind of location/region/continent names and where in the storyline everyone happens to be at the moment (besides post-Baction and post-Estelle-rescue).

But besides that, I'm on a roll. :D I had ideas come in and out since my last update and I basically had to just start writing or else they would all disappear forever ;o;


	5. Eternity and a Second

Thursday, June 23: EXAMS DONE. FINALLY. I'm sorry it took so long to get this final chapter up. Physics exams are the worst. I had to just... shut my brain down for the next few days after that, and then when I finally started working on this last chapter, I just had no way to get these words down because I don't need my siblings to be all OMG YOU WRITE FANFICTION? because that's just awkward. Plus my friends were demanding that I hang out and do things with them, and I've been trying to find a job because I'm so lazy and have never had a job before (it's sad, right? 17 and no first job :'D).

_x x x_

On any other normal day, Rita would have preferred grabbing Raven's face and shoving it in the dirt.

But upon opening her eyes and seeing said face so grim (and the fact that the sky was very, very dark), she had chosen to wake up stretching slowly, revering in the fact that what had felt so real just moments before _wasn't actually_ real.

Once she'd finished giving her eyes a good rub, she sat up and blinked blearily, only to find him gone. For half a second, she'd thought back to her latest dream until her eyes focused ever so much more; there, shadowed against bright flames, was a blur of purple. Her stomach had made a quiet grumbling noise, loud enough just for her own ears. She ignored it.

Raven glanced behind at her direction and patted the ground next to him. There was a question behind her tired eyes as she moved to sit where he indicated, but he'd barely looked at her before setting his gaze back onto the fire.

And thus, here she is, knees drawn up to her chest and wide awake in the middle of the night for no reason. Rita mulls over the benefits (and lack thereof) of the loss of sleep and decides that being awake is definitely better. At this time, she adds, there's more to think of and less distractions. Rather than blastia formulae and aer conversions running through her mind, she finds herself envisioning tan (lean and well-defined, too) muscles surrounding silver tendrils that wrap around a red core-

-that's ripped out by her own hands.

Rita recoils in shock; her stomach groans loudly and she fights the urge to turn and retch. Raven mistakes the sudden jerk of her head as a sign of her falling asleep, but the sound of her stomach tugs the corners of his mouth downwards.

"You hungry?"

"I- wha- huh?" Rita sputters for a second. "No, no, I'm n- it's okay."

"Ya sure? Cause-" Raven stands, but Rita cuts him off.

"No- yes, I'm sure, it's fine. Shut up and just... sit down." Her addled brain causes her to fumble with her words; there's hardly any force behind what she says. "No, wait. Go away or... or go to sleep and let me take watch or something. You're just in the way."

"Ah ah ah," Raven waggles his finger, "you can't pull that one on me." When she gives him a skeptical look, he uses his finger to point down at her. "I know you need your sleep and that I woke ya' up for no reason, but we need ta' talk about somethin', and we can't do that if you're sleepin' and havin' nightmares all the time, right?"

"I... what?" Rita's head jerks up, and she stares at him as though he's grown a leg on his forehead. Raven merely shrugs.

"Y'know, all those nightmares about me that scare ya' so much." Raven mentally nods encouragingly to himself. He hadn't meant to bring up the subject like so, but this... this was good. Make it seem like it's not such a big deal, act casual, don't let anything she says bother him.

"I- how did you- what- but- I don't need to talk to you about this! Go away!" Rita stands up quickly and defensively, flustered by his accurate assumption.

"Ah, that's a topic I wanted to bring up too. Going away, that is. So," he claps his hands together cheerfully, "I'm afraid I can't leave you guys any time soon, but after this is all over I'll leave you alone if ya' want me to."

Rita can only stare at him. "I... you... what?"

Raven nods. "Ya' don't seem ta' like me all that much, and I'm still a fishy guy, right? 'Sides, you tell me to go away all the time. I figure if I leave after helping you guys out, it'll be better for all of us after..."

He makes a slashing motion across his blastia heart, then jerks a thumb in Estelle's direction.

"When I tell you to go away, that's not what I mean! I tell you to go away because you're stupid!" Rita flushes in anger and embarrassment, and her voice rises the slightest notch higher. Why was she telling him this? "You wouldn't be allowed to just up and leave like that anyway - your life belongs to us, and Yuri or Judith would come find you and kick your ass anyway."

Excuses, she scolds in her head, all you can think of are excuses.

The archer merely shrugs, wincing on the inside. "Wouldn't you rather have my ass kicked than being around someone who scares ya' in yer' nightmares?"

Rita's temper begins to flare. "If you left, that would just make things worse!-"

"-Shh!" His finger comes up to his lips. "You'll wake everyone up!"

Rita speaks in a more hushed voice, still simmering on the inside and too tired to think. "If you left, the nightmares would get worse and I'd- who said it was _you_ that was scaring me anyway? It's not... I never said... you...!"

Raven just stands there and stares at her, stunned. If he left, and that made things worse for her... "If it's not me, then what is it?" He adds softly.

She... what did she just say? Rita turns pink all the way up to her ears in embarrassment. Why did she say that- and to him of all people!

"I-it's nothing, forget it. I'm going back to sleep." She scratches the back of her head and turns away, but Raven grabs her wrist.

"Tell me."

The tips of her fingers begin to smoke subconsciously as a defensive maneuver, but Raven smothers it with his own hand and reaches for her other. Rita just stares at the ground between them, hiding her eyes beneath her bangs.

"It's not _me_ you're scared of, but something about me?" Rita doesn't nod, but her grip between their hands tighten ever so little.

Something about him, and something about him going away. _Hm..._

Rita tries to yank her hands free from his, but his grasp is firm and he doesn't let go. He can't see, but there's a hint of panic behind her eyes; here she is, vulnerable and weak and _trapped_ and she can't find a way to escape_._

"Rita," she tugs again, "I'm not going to let go; I won't unless ya' tell me what's wrong." She shakes her head. "I'm serious."

Raven is well aware of how distraught he's making Rita feel, but at this point he doesn't care because a little moment of distress to try and fix what's wrong is _far_ better than to let her continue suffering in silence.

As long as her fears go away, it's fine if she ends up hating him._  
><em>

"It's..." He watches the trembling brunette patiently. "Every time I go to sleep... you're there, and I- _your blastia_ and- and there's blood _everywhere_..." She takes a shuddering breath, her eyes unshed with tears. "You _die_- and it's all _my fault_ and-"

Raven pulls her into his chest and cradles her in his arms, stroking her hair. "It's okay, just let it out."

Rita hardly hears him as she clings onto his coat, sobbing quietly. They stand there until her tears subside, and even then neither of them let go. All she can think of is how embarrassed she is, how warm _he_ is, and the way that if she listens closely, ear pressed up against his chest and angled _just_ the right way, she can hear a calm, subtle _whirring_ noise.

All that runs through Raven's mind is Rita - the way her hair smells, the way she covers up embarrassment with anger, the way she _taunts_ him with her cat ears, the way her body fits so snugly, so _sinfully_, _so right_ against his own-

The way her hair feels under his lips as he kisses her atop her head.

They both pull away from each other without letting go. Raven looks down and Rita looks away; her eyes glimmer in the firelight and her cheeks are flushed pink.

Raven doesn't even think as he dips his head down slowly to kiss her eyelid, then the next, her cheek, the other- her breath hitches-

He hesitates for a moment, a hair's width away from her lips, before his meet hers so softly and so sweetly that Rita wonders if she's even awake at all. His thumb brushes her cheek and Rita stands on her toes, the edges of his coat tight in her grip - and when they break apart and her eyes open, she's still gripping fistfuls of purple. He's smiling, but it's reluctant and his hold on her loosens; Rita's hands tighten.

"We shouldn't be doing this," he starts quietly, almost as if he's speaking to himself. "You're tired and you've been having all those nightmares; it's like I'm... taking advantage of ya' or somethin' that creepy old guys do-"

"If this... if this was something I never wanted," she mutters a threat with pink cheeks and rosy lips, "... then you'd wake up to Estelle trying to heal your ashes."

_True enough,_ Raven finds himself agreeing with her before he stops himself from nodding. He's not supposed to encourage this little sin between them, no matter how much they both want it or not; the only things that need work are his resolve and excuses.

Vaguely, Raven makes a note somewhere in the back of his mind. Just moments go (neither of them can tell how much time has passed - minutes? hours?), Rita was crying _about_ his death; now she was _threatening_ him with it.

_I must be a magical guy_, he thinks fleetingly before searching for his strongest excuse.

"I'm too old," he mutters both to her and himself. "You're still young. If we... if the world were to see us, you'd ask yerself what the hell yer' doin' with an old fogey like me and-"

"I don't care." Rita bites harshly, yanking on his coat to bring his face close to hers, then in a breathless murmur, "I don't care."

And they both lean in because Rita really doesn't care at the moment _who_ or _what_ sees them; all she's aware of are soft lips and warmth. Raven complies because finds he doesn't care either, nor did he ever want to fight it in the first place; if he's going to hell anyway, he might as well make the best of his life.

Rita's back arches into the kiss as Raven tightens his arms around her. She makes a tiny sound at the back of her throat in frustration - her arms are in the way and for a brief second, she wonders what to do with them before letting go and wrapping them around his shoulders. The heat between them is scandalizingly delicious as he crushes her against him.

They stay like that for an eternity and a second before parting for air. Lips swollen, Rita's brain regains the _tiniest_ bit of sense and she flushes, burying her hot face into the junction where shoulder meets neck. Raven simply gives a deep, quiet chuckle.

In the morning, a little past dawn, Raven wakes up to a dead fire, a sleeping brunette in his arms, and Repede's snout nudging his elbow. He stares blankly at the dog and gives a great yawn before his senses come alert and he catches Yuri's raised eyebrow directed in his way. The archer scrunches up his face, almost as if to say _what are you looking at?_

The swordsman gives a snort of laughter before rolling the other way in his sleeping bag and giving a wave of his hand.

_You've got ten minutes before I wake everyone up._

_x  
><em>

As it turns out, Rita does care what the world thinks. Raven doesn't mind because he knows she's just shy (in which she vehemently denies and gives a quick _fwap_ to the head while he snickers).

He also doesn't mind because now that she chooses to walk behind with him, he can grab her hand when no one's looking. It's rewarding to watch her cheeks turn pink when she turns her head away_,_ even when someone turns their head and she instantly frees her hand, for the pink on her cheeks only darken.

But the most rewarding of all, Raven finds, is when they are absolutely _sure_ all attention is away from them and undivided. During these moments, he grabs her hand and moves in for a fluttery kiss, be it her temple, cheek, hand, or lips.

And she simply turns red - her hand instinctively flexes ever so slightly in the lightest of squeezes.

Because the Adephagos will fall, and none of them plan on dying anytime soon.

Raven smiles, for Rita Mordio's dreams of nightmares come to an end.

**_x x x_**

Finally, it's over! When was the last time I wrote 2000 words for one entire scene? Never! I think. All my previous stories had just skipped from here to there and then over there... because I suck at writing long things.

I think half of this story feels rushed, if not all. I'm sorry, but I don't quite know how to fix it. Also, sorry about the unclear points of view; it switches from Tsunderita to Raven to both back to Raven and I don't want to change it because in this final chapter I just don't know how to do it all with just one person's thought process and agfdjkgjdsl.

Also, present tense is _hard_ to do for multiple chapters... kind of...

An important note: if _anyone_, while reading this, notices _anything_ that is similar to someone else's story (that has been written before this final publish), _let me know_. I tried so hard to pull romance out of my head because I suck at that too, so I'm worried that if at any time, some of the stuff that came out of my head came from _someone else's story_ and I don't want people to get mad at me ): (also, if there are spelling errors and grammar issues and stuff that doesn't make sense, let me know so I can fix them. my laziness only makes me skim over final works instead of actually checking them.)

Less important note number two: You _cannot_ get past the age difference between these two. I tried, but I ended up using it anyway. It will happen/has happened to all writers who don't want to make Raven a creepy old pedophile. Everyone is probably going to get tired of "I'M TOO OLD FOR YOU." "I DON'T CARE." but maybe we're just going to have to deal with it. I tried not to make it a major issue in here...

And last of all, and most important: I just wanna say _thanks_ to everyone who has continued reading this, has read only the first chapter and decided they didn't like it, reviewed, favourited, alerted, etcetc. You make me happy, even if you don't like my fic.

I write too much in author's notes. Damn it.


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